Dr Ilze Mertena

Why Study?

International Tourism Management degree opens up job opportunities in various industries (e.g., hospitality, aviation, tourism and transport) and job roles in different business areas (e.g., marketing, management, HR, operations and others). It can provide employment opportunities locally, nationally and internationally. In short, it opens a world of possibilities and options.

Why do I teach?

I teach because I enjoy it! The students are very rewarding to work with and it is enormously satisfying to see them progress and fulfil their potential and ambitions.

I believe that learning is a transformative life experience that goes beyond accumulating information or even training for a profession (that one is essential, but there is more!) I believe in knowledge that is relevant to our lives, and as such, it has the power to touch us deeply, challenge and excite us, and even change the way we see ourselves and the world.

How I’ll teach you

Teaching will be interactive and engaging - I tend to get quite passionate about my interests, so will hope to communicate that enthusiasm to you. However, the learning process is not just about you “absorbing” knowledge but also about us working together to develop your skills and interests in the subject.

My previous employment and my experience in the industry have influenced my approach to teaching in Higher Education. I know that educators should work more closely with the industry and employers to develop employable tourism graduates. What’s more, I believe that collaboration between higher education and industry employers benefits all parties involved, i.e., the students, the industry, academics and the community. Therefore, as a lecturer, I aim to engage with industry partners at all levels, from curriculum planning and assessment design to guest lectures, field trips, industry projects, work experience opportunities for students and short industry training courses. I want students to develop relevant skills, knowledge, and experience to improve their prospects for employment after graduation further.

I believe that every student has the ability to succeed at the highest level, and I am always willing to invest the time and effort to ensure that everyone I teach has the best opportunity to do just that.

I am currently the unit leader of the following units:

• Strategic Tourism Management (third year)

• Understanding Customer Experience (third year)

• International Tourist Experience Design (second year)

• Product Development for Tour Operators (second year)

• Airlines and Tour Operators (postgraduate degree)

I am interested in supervising PhDs that connect with my research in the following areas:

• The tourist experience of transport and tourism, especially the embodied experiences of place and place making
• Tourism as part of everyday life
• Tourism mobilities, slow travel and the experience of slow travel
• Cultural tourism
• Skills of tourism

I am interested in how tourists inhabit, (co)produce and practice time-space while on holiday. I am particularly interested in the tourists’ lived experience of transport while travelling to/from destinations and how time spent ‘on the move’ influences the total holiday experience. I examine tourism as a practice in my current research, focusing on tourist skills. I argue that tourists require diverse skills and practical knowledge to engage in tourism practices effortlessly and with confidence. My other area of research is sustainable tourism - I analyse the tourists’ experiences of railway tourism to explore what could be done to facilitate the mobilities transition to more sustainable transport modes.

Latest publication:

Mertena, I., Kaaristo, M. & Edensor, T. (2022) Tourist skills. Annals of Tourism Research, 94, 103387